Apple's World Wide Developer Conference is coming up in a few months, and with new leadership in place, a lot of folks are hoping to see some major changes in iOS 7. Many critics feel like the platform is long overdue for a makeover.
And this prospect has led to the creation of several impressive mockups and renderings of what some hope to see from Apple in the future. Today's concept is no different, as it visualizes some beautiful, all-new UI components for iOS...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTEDgc2vu44#!
The United Arab Emirates-headquartered Thuraya has been in the mobile satellite services business literally as long as I can recall seeing their ads on MTV as a teenager. Thuraya operates in 140+ countries across Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia, covering two-thirds of the globe. Last summer, the company also started providing roaming services in the United States through its partnership with T-Mobile USA.
Because Thuraya has been selling pricey satellite phones and access to its global communications network for ages, their very first iPhone accessory launch is totally unexpected, but welcomed. The aptly named SatSleeve enables global satellite coverage for your iPhone by tapping an accompanying app to talk to the sleeve and route your text messages and phone calls through Thuraya’s network of satellites. Wait, there's more to this special case than meets the eye...
Ah, the cost of competition. Samsung's recently unveiled Galaxy S4 may raise the bar for Apple, but it comes at a price. The new smartphone isn't expected to launch until April, however we already know how much it cost the South Korean company to build its latest device: $244.
According to IHS Suppli, parts and manufacturing for a 16GB S4 not only cost more than the current Galaxy S3, but also seventeen percent higher than an iPhone 5 with sixteen gigabytes of storage. Seems Samsung is encountering the same financial challenges as Apple when it comes to ensuring your handset remains technologically in step with competitors...
In another hint of Apple distancing itself from Samsung by procuring crucial gadget components from alternative suppliers, we hear the Cupertino firm may have already dropped Samsung entirely as the maker of next-gen panels for a fifth-generation iPad and a second-generation iPad mini.
Both devices are rumored to arrive later this year, allegedly sporting the high-resolution Retina display technology and sharing a light aluminum chassis with thinner appearance and chamfered edges...
It is an idea that was just waiting to be implemented: using your iPhone to scan product barcodes at retailers. Apparently, the world's largest chain of retail stores agrees. Walmart announced Wednesday it will offer the feature across more than 200 stores in twelve additional U.S. markets, stretching from Seattle to Oklahoma.
Although the move triples the size of the retail chain's Scan & Go program, Walmart said it still wants to get customer feedback before rolling out iPhone-based price checks in all stores...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjCvY4utV-o
Hot on the heels of announcing new 30/40/50GB shared data tiers on Monday, U.S. wireless carrier AT&T today said its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network has expanded coverage in Mobile, Bowling Green and the Waterbury and Meriden areas, including parts of Cheshire, Meriden, Prospect, Waterbury and Wolcott.
As part of the ongoing rollout across the country, AT&T's LTE now covers 288 million people in the United States. The carrier also flipped the switch on LTE in Dyersburg and Ripley, Sebring and Athens and announced a new prepaid option for its Wireless Home Phone service...
This is pretty interesting. Apple has updated its GarageBand for iOS app today with support for Audiobus—a third party app that allows you to connect multiple audio applications together to create an entire digital studio.
You can use Audiobus to play music from a synthesizer app, and record it live into a looper or multi-track recording app, all from your iPhone or iPad. And now, with today's update, GarageBand can get in on the fun...
The Wall Street Journal reports that Intertrust Technologies, which holds more than 150 patents related to digital rights management, is taking Apple to court over an alleged infringement of more than two dozen of its patents on security and distributed trusted computing. Filed in U.S. Federal Court in the Northern District of California, the suit covers a broad range of Apple products.
Specifically, iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad are named, as are Mac computers and laptops, Apple TV and online services including iTunes, iCloud and the App Store. Intertrust licenses its patents to the likes of Adobe, Motorola, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Nokia and HTC...
WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging service, is going to be bringing its subscription model to iOS this year, according to CEO Jan Koum. Koum recently spoke with a Dutch news outlet about the company's near-term plans.
Currently, iOS users can download WhatsApp for a one-time fee of $0.99. In the new model though, which it already uses on other platforms like Android and Windows Phone, the app will be free, with users having to pay an annual fee...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNtTfFDena4#!
Conspiracy theorists had a field day with yesterday's confirmation that Kevin Lynch, Adobe's Chief Technology Officer, will soon be taking an executive role at Apple, joining the iPhone maker as its VP of Technology and reporting directly to Apple's SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield. Lynch joined Adobe after the Photoshop maker snapped up Macromedia in 2005. Macromedia originally developed Flash technology and Lynch has been instrumental in its continuing development at Adobe.
By the virtue of his job, Lynch had to cross swords with Apple as the Cupertino firm refused to support Flash for the iPhone. Watchful fans have dug up this cringe worthy homage to MythBusters, a parody video from 2009 where Lynch attempts to get Flash working on the iPhone by pretending to blow up Apple's handset. He also ran over it with a steam roller and destroyed it in a blender. First day on the job should be fun, indeed! Jump pat the fold for more goodies...
The iPad mini is an elegant device with its chamfered edges and anodized coating. I really hate using cases that cover up the design, which brings me to sleeves. The best thing about a slipcase is the ability to enjoy the beauty and feel of the iPad mini without covering it up in a terrible, bulky case. The people at ColcaSac, whose iPhone case I previously covered, have developed a new line of cases for the iPad mini...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtJBQHLdcM4
As Apple released its $329 iPad mini last year to compete with the growing crop of inexpensive seven-inchers, sales overtook that of the full-size model faster than Apple had envisioned. And because of it, the existing Android tablet vendors competing on the low to mid-end have been undoubtedly feeling lots of heat.
Amazon, which first legitimized the category with launch of the $199 Kindle Fire in September 2011, is reportedly about to up the ante with a $99 Kindle Fire version, a potentially disruptive move which will boost sales and popularize smaller, inexpensive tablets, but also put pressure on Apple and other tablet vendors to slash prices of their warez.
UPDATE: Amazon shoots down the rumor, says a $99 Kindle Fire is "not happening"...